Not all cults are religious. Attributes of a cult include traits such as: unquestioning commitment to one or more leaders, who are considered unaccountable to any authorities; punishment of dissent; mind-altering practices such as meditation and chanting; and deceptive recruitment practices. Many organizations that are not overtly religious still exhibit many of these traits. In this panel we will discuss some examples of this phenomenon, such as the Amway and other multi-level businesses, the self-help movement, and some homeschooling organizations.

A debate about the issue of “true” religion: some atheists claim that we can say that some versions (like fundementalists) of a religion are the “true” version of those religions becuase of their relative consistency and loyalty to the scriptures, while other atheists bring different reasons to refute this, for example the subjective nature of the religion. This panel is a debate between the proponents of these two positions.

Last summer, we did an online virtual conference, featuring many excellent and well known atheist speakers giving YouTube lectures and presentations about topics you care about. Next week, we’re doing it again. From Friday, January 31 through Sunday, February 2, you’ll be hearing from these speakers:

In a few hours I’ll be joined by radio veteran Jamila Bey and “Quiverfull” survivor Vyckie Garrison, to discuss being an “out” atheist an winning arguments with various types of people. Hope you’ll tune in.

I’ll also post open threads on this blog later today about Beth Presswood’s panel, “God is Love?” and the video game panels today and tomorrow that will be attended by me and Lynnea, respectively. See you there!

Here’s a quick outline of my section of the talk (subject to being abridged if there’s a lot of back-and forth conversation):

Introductions

Why should atheists evangelize?

Does it even work?

On “Playing to win”

Approaching people you know, or: On being a dick

Identifying your audience

Sources of information

Vyckie Garrison will take on the REALLY hard stuff: how to talk to fundamentalists.